Journyx Project Management Blog

Journyx Timesheet has always been available as a free, unlimited-use download for installations of 10 or fewer users, but today we’re announcing something new…

Starting right this very second (well, actually about 24 hours ago, but work with me here) Journyx is offering a free, 100 user unlimited-use 45 day trial of Timesheet SaaS to anyone who wants to take a look at the latest version of our patented, proven solution to all your time tracking and project accounting needs.

But what do we mean when we say Timesheet SaaS, you wonder? SaaS is simply the acronym for Software-as-a-Service, which is the fancy name for “hosted” or “ASP” software. In other words, Timesheet SaaS is the hosted version of Timesheet, the one that you don’t have to install on your own computers. It’s the version of Timesheet that runs on our servers, freeing you up from the drudgery of application and database maintenance so that you can focus on using Timesheet to help you reach new heights of profitability.

So whether you’re already a Timesheet customer who’d like to experiment with trying Timesheet SaaS as an alternative to your existing local installation or if you’re someone who’s never gotten around to taking Timesheet for a test drive, here’s your chance to see how SaaS makes everything better.

But don’t take our word for it. Sign up and get started with Timesheet SaaS today. And, just in case you’re worried, we’re still offering Timesheet for download, too. So if you’d rather check us out that way, that’s fine by us.

Sign up for the FREE Timesheet SaaS Trial at:
http://journyx.com/rss/saasfree.html

Download the completely FREE Timesheet local at:
http://journyx.com/rss/gendl.html

Your skill in using just six techniques in appropriate combinations to address different situations is the measure of your IT agility. I call these the core techniques. Just as a game like basketball is composed of a small group of core techniques such as dribbling, passing, guarding and shooting, so too is the game of developing information systems.

The skill levels of project teams can be measured by their capabilities in these techniques. By employing these techniques, a project team will always be able to produce competent (and sometimes even brilliant) results. These six techniques are a simple yet comprehensive set of skills that can be taught and mastered by people involved in building systems. These core techniques are:

1. Joint applications design (JAD)
2. Process mapping
3. Data modeling
4. System prototyping
5. Object oriented design and programming
6. System testing and rollout.

There are other techniques that may be relevant from time to time, but these six core techniques are always relevant in every situation regardless of the technology being used or the problems being addressed. The best practitioners of IT agility are competent in all of them and masters of some of them…

Play ball with great agility at:
http://journyx.com/rss/press/cio-itagility.html

In 1997, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overhauled its GMP, or Good Manufacturing Processes. Out of the ashes came 21 CFR Part 11, a regulation that places certain demands on drug makers, medical device manufacturers, biotech companies, biologics developers, and other FDA-regulated industries regarding their use of technology—specifically, defining the criteria under which electronic records and electronic signatures are considered to be trustworthy, reliable and equivalent to paper records.

Accuracy and accountability are extremely important with the use of such records, and this strategic initiative is aimed as ensuring that both are upheld in both manufacturing and product quality. The main issues that Part 11 addresses are audibility and the validation of electronic signatures, and it governs much of how pharmaceutical companies document their processes and procedures from research to marketing. Any small business that intends to sell into the pharmaceutical market—through conducting research studies, for example—will fall under the regulatory standard as well.

Luckily, there are employee time tracking software solutions that can help small businesses be Part 11 compliant. The first step is to know what you are looking for. The right solution must exhibit several qualities…

Decipher the designation at:
http://journyx.com/rss/redir/smartbiz-21cfr11.html

You’ve engaged a reputable consulting firm to perform a large systems project. You’ve prepared an RFP, carefully reviewed the responses, scrutinised the consultancy’s oral presentation, and ultimately negotiated and signed a well-written statement of work (SOW).

Don’t stop there.

A clearly defined SOW may place you on the right path, but it doesn’t ensure success. In reality, the project manager engaged to run your project may not even be the person who wrote the SOW.

As an IT leader, you can and should do more to help advance your consulting projects from contract to execution. A careful review of the project plan is one way to facilitate this transition, and it’s an underused and surprisingly effective method of finding early warning signs. So spend time reviewing the project plan and asking questions. Here’s what to look for…

Strengthen your SOWs at:
http://journyx.com/rss/redir/ps-strongplan.html

• How can I change the column sort order for Timesheet search results?
• How can I remove crayon from my walls?

Get these great tips and more at:
http://journyx.com/rss/support/tips/

The Internet has brought a lot of business to My1Stop LLC, a Fort Scott, Kan., printing company. About half of its $20 million in annual revenue comes from Web traffic, says Michael Joseph, vice president of e-commerce.

Given those figures, My1Stop can’t afford anything less than a top-notch site. And although it won a 2006 Web Marketing Association award for outstanding achievement in Web site development, its workers know that’s not what drives business.

“The company that takes the best care of the customer is going to win, and e-commerce is not an exception to this rule,” says senior programmer Mike Wulz.

But what does it take to deliver that kind of customer service in cyberspace? Here are 10 steps garnered from those who run and evaluate top corporate Web sites:

1. Build it for users.

Development needs to support what users want, not necessarily what the company wants to promote, says Kerry Bodine, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. “You design with your users in mind at every key decision point,” she says.

It sounds simple, but it often requires a shift in thinking. “Developers are very focused on building the technology and not necessarily looking at whether it makes sense to the user,” says Helen Galasso, vice president of interactive marketing at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. in Parsippany, N.J. “I had a developer say, ‘If [the users] can’t figure out how to use it, then they shouldn’t use it.’ That’s what you have to combat.”

Read more at ComputerWorld.

Michael Oxley was just starting to dig into his cream- and fruit-laden dessert when the verbal punches began to fly.

Presiding over a recent dinner in Paris for more than 200 accountants, Oxley — the former Republican congressman from Ohio and co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law — was asked during the question period whether he realized he had helped create one of the most crushing financial burdens ever imposed on business.

Was Oxley aware, his questioners asked, that the law that he and Senator Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, rushed onto the books five years ago after the collapse of Enron and WorldCom had contributed to a sharp decline in listings on U.S. stock exchanges? And, knowing what he knows now about the cost and effects of the law, would Oxley — who retired in January after 25 years in Congress — have done it any differently?

“Absolutely,” Oxley answered. “Frankly, I would have written it differently, and he would have written it differently,” he added, referring to Sarbanes. “But it was not normal times.”

Read more at the International Herald Tribune.

As blood flows, it pumps oxygen through the body to sustain life. Likewise, communication is the lifeblood of projects and organisations. Just as the heart works to distribute oxygen throughout the body, the project manager continuously circulates project information from the external stakeholders to the project plan documentation, to the internal stakeholders, to the project plan. This cycle of communication and information flow is iterative and continues throughout the life of the project. Without it, stakeholders and the project team can be left wondering where things stand and what decisions have been made.

The communication plan—like the project plan—is a necessary part of the project. However, when thinking of the project manager’s role in communication planning, organisations and project teams too often think solely of the documents that establish the frequency, roles, responsibilities, recipients, and channel for which communication will be dispersed during a project. If you don’t look beyond the written word and the outline prepared in the early phases of a project, you are setting yourself up for project losses. While you need to understand who is involved in the project, it is equally important to understand what information is needed and the level at which they need to receive it.

Read more at Project Smart.

There’s a time for every out-of-scope project task, and the time is later.

You have been taught since childhood not to put off until tomorrow what can be done today. Conventional wisdom says to do it, and do it now! My experience as a project manager, however, indicates that procrastination works.

If you’re like me, you’ve found that roughly 90% of the outside-of-scope actions that people ask to have added to a project will be changed, dropped or completed by someone else before you can get to them. All you need to do is determine which items make up the 10% that can’t be avoided. That’s where management by procrastination can change your life.

To get in the right frame of mind and drive the theory home, quietly chant the following the next time you’re sitting through a boring meeting: Procrastinate, procrastinate. Put it off till it’s too late. S-T-A-L-L. Stutter, stop … wait.

There isn’t much science behind my theory, but I’ve found that procrastination can be effective when others attempt to tack tasks onto your project. To make it work, you need to learn to identify tasks, prioritize them and deliver.

Identify. Many transient tasks areassigned during meetings. Someone will ask a question that results in the need for additional research, or the boss will want someone to follow up on an idea. Taking the time to really identify each task is the first step in weeding out the 90% that willmagically disappear. It involves more than just writing down whatever is asked.

Read more at Computerworld.

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